The Israeli side has recently repeatedly claimed that it will launch a large-scale ground military operation against the Rafah area, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip. A large number of Palestinians displaced by the conflict are stranded in Rafah, realizing that they have no way out.
Anas Najjar, Reporter of the Main Channel: We are now in a cemetery in Rafah, where there are a large number of displaced people who have set up tents and are next to the dead. Because Rafah is so crowded today, thousands of people have fled from other parts of the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the conflict.
Muhammad Abu Moussa: We didn't want to flee to Rafah, and when we came to Rafah, we found that there was rubbish everywhere, and the cemetery we finally found shelter in. We were really exhausted when we got here, we were definitely not happy with the environment, but there was nothing we could do, we had no choice.
Some of the displaced people from afar have been forced to live in cemeteries because they have nowhere to live, while others are native Rafah. Amir Asamana is the Rafa, physically and mentally exhausted by the ongoing air strikes, and the total blockade of the Gaza Strip has prevented them from leaving. For Asamana, it seems safer to be in a tent next to the cemetery than to stay in a home that is going to be blown down at any point.
Amir Asamana, Displaced Person: I searched the border with Egypt [and the Gaza Strip] for 110 days to find a way out, but to no avail. Now we can only live in this cemetery.
Taha Qasim hails from the northern Gaza Strip, which was one of the first areas to be affected by Israel's large-scale ground military operations. He and his family fled all the way to Rafah. The fleeing has left Qasim almost penniless, and humanitarian aid has been delayed in reaching the Gaza Strip. It is already the coldest time of the year in the region, and the children are still wearing October clothes due to the rush to flee from home, and many have to pull grass to light fires to keep warm.
Displaced Taha Qasim: We're almost the same as these dead people, the only difference is that they're lying in their graves, and we're barely alive, what else can we do? It feels like this is where we end up, and the only place my wife and children and I can stay.
Mohammed Abu Moussa, Displaced Person: Think about our own homeland, what a wonderful place it was, it was the war that made our lives so difficult, so in one way or another, we hope that this conflict will end as soon as possible.
*: CCTV news client).